A Sovereign Nation, Systematically Wiped From The Map of Europe!

Today is a better day than yesterday, but I am still suffering from low mood. On Saturday night, Darrell and I went for a bite to eat, just trying to put our thoughts in a more positive place. It was good to get out and enjoy some much needed 'us' time, but still, at the back of my mind, the growing war in Europe isn't far from my thoughts. I understand just how fed up people must be, as I mention the war for the umpteenth time, but I really just need to hear the words 'everything will be alright.' Unsurprisingly, I don't hear them, because like me, the people I have spoken to, are equally horrified, witnessing this senseless war in Ukraine.

I have stopped watching the news so much now, and I am sticking to only catching up on events in Ukraine once or twice a day. It has done much for my state of mind, and I am not as tense as I was. However, the headlines remain horrific; the human cost of this war is all too clear, and the scenes played out on our television screens are beyond words. Only today, as I watched 'Good Morning Britain,' I heard that the pregnant woman, brought out on a stretcher, after a maternity hospital was bombed in Mariupol, had died from her injuries, along with her unborn child. This was another stomach churning and tearful event that shook me to the core. I can not understand why this is being allowed to happen in 2022.

As one would expect, I have been more than vocal in my views online, and in my opinion, rightly so. It is up to you and I to speak up for people who have no voice right now, and I am in no mood for listening to the so-called Russian side of the story. There is absolutely no reason for this war, and anyone trying to justify this attack needs to give themselves a shake. Innocent people are dying, the cultural and historical heritage of this beautiful country are being obliterated, because of one mad man's quest to invade his neighbour. I have had row upon row with people about their warped sense of reality, as a sovereign nation is systematically wiped from the map of Europe, without a thought for the mounting lives lost. Evil does exist and is thriving in The Kremlin; it is up to us to stand up and be counted.

Russia has banned many social media platforms in the country, and it has become increasingly difficult getting a message of hope across to the Russian people. Many Russians I had been in contact with are no longer online, and that is a shame. Putin's regime has begun the process of retreating behind a new 'Iron curtain' and returning to its rogue status of old. I can vaguely recollect being taught about the old Cold War in school, beginning with that inimitable quote from Churchill, after World War II in March 1946; 'From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an Iron Curtain has descended across the continent.' Remembering the dark days of the Cold War, I am mindful of the literature sent through the post, documenting what we should do in the event of a nuclear war. I recall the separation of families in East and West Berlin and the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the pivotal event that finally saw the beginning of the end of Communism. Never did I think we would be here again, at this juncture, closer to World War III than we ever have been before.

The World is once again a more dangerous place than it was just a few weeks ago, and President Putin shows no sign of stopping his rampage across Ukraine. Peace talks are ongoing, and there have been some more positive noises coming from the negotiations, but the reality is, we are all in for a particularly torrid, tense and unpredictable time; the World has changed dramatically overnight and none of us know how this will end. I can't stop thinking about those poor souls who have lost their lives and the millions of others hiding in shelters under war torn streets. I want to end this entry today by expressing my hope for the future, but in reality I can't. A realist first, I believe this war has a long way to run, involving many more lives sent hurtling into the theatre of war.

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